


Bard & Miriam

by HowardR



Series: Tea Talks [3]
Category: Wandersong (Video Game)
Genre: Bard's Name is Bard (Wandersong), Conversations, F/M, I Ship It, It's just them talking, Like that's it, No Strings Attached, Optimism, Survivor Guilt, Tea, They/Them Pronouns for Bard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:54:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28571085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowardR/pseuds/HowardR
Summary: Bard and Miriam have tea and talk.
Relationships: Bard & Miriam (Wandersong)
Series: Tea Talks [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2084601
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Bard & Miriam

_“...Tea?”_

“Yeah!” Bard chirped, scooting Miriam’s cup towards her. “It’s good! Promise.”

“...That fairy said you took it black,” she said, a little confused as Bard put cream in their tea.

They glanced up, and smiled softly. “I actually take it with milk and sugar. And honey. And sometimes nutmeg. But that’s okay - it’s hard to remember tea preferences when the world is ending.”

“...How do you do that?” Miriam asked, suddenly.

“Do what?”

“Just… forgive people like that?” Miriam added, peering at them. “I was a bad friend-”

“You were hurt!” Bard objected. “And scared! It was okay to run.”

“That fairy forgot your tea preferences,” Miriam plowed on.

“It really is hard to remember when you’re meeting others of your kind for the first time, _and_ the world is ending around you,” Bard said, sounding unbothered.

“That queen and king wouldn’t give us the overseer song _or_ end the war until we got their _entire countries_ to sing at them-”

“They had a lot on their minds!” Bard said easily. “And that queen had just lost a daughter - it made sense that she wouldn’t want to stop the war.”

“Even Audrey…”

Miriam trailed off quickly when Bard’s smile suddenly vanished completely.

Right. Touchy subject.

It was hard to remember when Bard was so _un-_ touchy on literally _every_ other subject.

“Even the Dream King,” Miriam said quickly - Bard’s eyes cleared again, and their trademark smile came right back. “He nearly made the world end, and you aren’t mad at him.”

“I can’t really be mad at someone who was just trying to survive,” Bard said, shrugging with a helpless smile. “Everyone has the right to live. Dream King should’ve had more time - it isn’t his fault that giving me the Earthsong would kill him.”

“See,” Miriam prodded, trying not to get annoyed. “How do you do that? You aren’t mad. You aren’t upset. You just… forgive them.”

“Well… I…”

Bard’s eyes drifted, and their smile slipped away - replaced by the thoughtful expression that Miriam had only seen once or twice before.

“I guess I’m still upset,” Bard admitted, quietly. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand what they did! And that doesn’t mean I can’t forgive them.”

“You don’t ever _seem_ upset,” Miriam said, taking a quiet sip of her tea. She _did_ take it black.

“Yeah. Seeming upset wouldn’t help anyone. But forgiving those people will make them feel better - and it’ll make _me_ feel better! So I try to forgive people as soon as possible!”

“Bard… you know that it’s okay to be upset, right?”

“Huh?”

Miriam sighed. “It’s okay to be upset, Bard. It’s okay to be mad. It’s okay to show people that. You don’t have to hide yourself. Not… from me, at least.”

“But why should I be?” Bard said. “It’s not going to help anyone to be upset! It’s not going to help anyone to show that! So I’ll just not be upset. It’s better for everyone.”

“I…”

Eya, she was so _bad_ at this.

At supporting people. And having heart-to-hearts. And showing… _feelings._

Even just _thinking_ the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

Really, this was almost hypocritical of her, considering that she never showed any emotion or vulnerability when possible.

“But you’re still upset, right?” Miriam asked, peering at them.

“I mean… yeah, a little bit,” Bard said. “But I forgave them anyway.”

“...I don’t get it,” Miriam said. “How can you forgive someone if you’re still mad? If I’m mad at someone I want to maim them whenever I see them, not _forgive_ them.”

“Well… I’m still mad that they did what they did,” Bard said thoughtfully. “And it can still make me mad at them sometimes. But if they learned from what they did, and they don’t do it again, then… they’re sorry. A part of them is. And that’s enough for me to forgive them. If someone is sorry for what they did, they know it was wrong - and they didn’t want to. And usually they had good reasons when they did that thing, even if it _was_ bad. So as long as someone’s sorry, and I can understand what they did - I can forgive them. Even if I’m still upset that they did that thing.”

“...Hm.”

“Did that make sense?” Bard scratched the back of their neck sheepishly. “Sorry, I kinda rant sometimes.”

“No, it’s fine,” Miriam said, instantly. “...You’re too nice.”

Bard smiled. “So you’ve said!”

“It bears repeating,” Miriam said flatly, taking another sip of her tea. “...Hey.”

“Yep!” Bard chirped, taking a quick sip of their tea - which was clearly a bit oversweetened.

“Do you ever wonder about… the end of the universe?”

“Uh… nope! Not really. I mean - we stopped it.”

“Well, we stopped the end of the _world,”_ Miriam corrected, glancing up at them - though it was more of a glare. “Do you ever wonder about other planets in the universe? If they might’ve had life? If… we could’ve saved them too? What happened to them?”

“Never!” Bard said, sounding unbothered.

“Never?”

“Never!”

“...Why not?”

Bard blinked at her. “Because we did all we could. We did our best! And we did what nobody else would. And I think that’s enough to not bother or wonder about what we might’ve lost - and instead, be happy about what we saved!”

“...I can’t do that,” Miriam said, quietly. “I think about it a lot. What we didn’t save. People. Families.”

“...Hey…”

Miriam glanced up when she felt a warm, comforting weight on her hand.

Bard gave her a soft look. “We did everything we could, okay? Don’t feel bad. Plus - we saved the world! No need to be such a grump about it.”

Miriam looked away. “...Yeah. You’re right, I know. I just… think about it sometimes.”

And then, suddenly, she glanced back - at where Bard’s hand was lying atop her’s.

She lit up a fiery red, and yanked her hand back.

For a second, she was almost concerned - but Bard hadn’t even seemed to notice. They were just drinking their tea peacefully, with their usual soft smile.

Miriam stuck the memory far, _far_ in the back of her mind, and locked it in a box.

She was good at compartmentalizing.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey-o it's my first Wandersong ficlet I hope you liked it.
> 
> I'm kinda tired. I pretty much just vomited this conversation onto the screen. I'm slowly getting back into writing, but. It ain't been super easy, folks.
> 
> I might make a full Wandersong fic in the future. With an Audrey redemption arc. Even though she (spoilers) basically ended the world.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> I take cream and sugar,
> 
> -Howard R.


End file.
